Native Americans: 'Our New Overlords'

Barack Obama's announcement that the U.S. would support the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People has ignited fear
among some members of the far right. The declaration, which is not
legally binding, asserts that "indigenous peoples have the right to
own, use, develop and control the lands, territories and resources"
that they traditionally owned or occupied, according to Talking Points Memo. Such provisions have caused Bryan Fischer
of the American Family Association to declare on his blog that "President Obama wants to give the entire land mass of the United
States of America back to the Indians. He wants Indian tribes to be our
new overlords." A few days later, World Net Daily blogger Eugene Koprowski
added fuel to the fire by suggesting that the UN resolution could "accomplish something as radical as relinquishing some U.S. sovereignty
and opening up a path for the return of ancient tribal lands to
American Indians, including even parts of Manhattan."

Needless
to say, some find Fischer's and Koprowski's assumptions that the
President intends to return the entirety of the United States, starting
with Manhattan, to Native Americans, a bit unrealistic. This week,
liberal bloggers react to the overreaction.

This 'Kooky' Theory Will Gain Traction Joan McCarter
at Daily Kos fears it won't be long before the assertion that Native
American tribes will soon be "our new overlords" from the fringe
into the mainstream right dialogue. "This is only slightly less kooky
than good ol' Colorado governor candidate Dan Maes' great
UN-taking-over-American-cities-with-bicycles conspiracy theory, but
mark my words, it's going to get traction," McCarter predicts. "Pretty
soon we’re going to be seeing it on Beck and then Limbaugh and before
you know it, Michele Bachmann will be introducing resolutions on the
House floor about it."

Part of the Republican PlanTom Levenson
at Balloon Juice wonders if the uproar over the UN Declaration isn't
just a tactic in the Republican Party’s attempt to "destroy Obama's
presidency." He writes:

Look, this is fun and all, and yes, people
spending even seconds seriously considering the notion that Barack
Obama could or would just hand over chunks of the US to whoever he
wants need medical help (where are those damn meds, honey?), but as
usual, this isn’t about what the folks weighing in so ponderously on
Fox say it is.

'No Good Reason Not to Support' the Declaration Appalled by the immediate surge of opposition, Salon’s Alex Pareene explains why the US’s commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People is a good thing, calling it:

A non-legally binding promise to finally treat indigenous peoples with
some small amount of decency after hundreds of years of the government
murdering them and expelling them from their homes and forcibly
relocating them to barren desert ghettos and now just letting them live
in conditions of appalling, abject poverty. Bush refused to sign on to
this, because, I dunno, it was from the U.N., and it might lead to
frivolous lawsuits, or something? It's a non-binding Declaration that
basically says "we will be nice to indigenous people," there's no good
reason not to support it.

Just Another Group of People to Hate Zandar
at No More Mister Nice Blog thinks the "Obama is giving Manhattan back
to the indians" rumor is just another product of the fringe's penchant
for fear mongering.

Bonus for the wingers, an all-new (all old)
group of people to hate in Native Americans. Combine the specter of "Oh
noes, reparations!" with the fever dreams of "He's not really one of
us", add a layer of "One World UN Gubment!" and stir in a big sticky
glob of good ol' racism and you get "Obama is gonna give Manhattan back
to them!